VMware vCenter configuration

NetApp HCI makes use of VMware vCenter Server to manage and monitor the VMware ESXi hypervisor installed on each compute node. The NetApp Deployment Engine provides you with the choice of either deploying a new vCenter Server or using an existing vCenter Server that you have already configured.

On the vCenter Configuration page, live validation of the vCenter Server version and network information you enter is enabled by default. If you need more control over the fields on this page, you can disable this feature. If you disable live validation and enter invalid network information or join an existing vCenter Server deployment running an unsupported software version, it may cause issues with the NetApp HCI system deployment.

Be aware of the following caveats when you use the NetApp Deployment Engine to install a new vCenter Server:

The NetApp Deployment Engine installs the new vCenter Server Appliance with the Small deployment size option. For more information on deployment sizes, see the VMware vSphere documentation.

The vCenter Server license is a temporary evaluation license. For continued operation after the evaluation period, you must obtain a new license key from VMware and add it to the vCenter Server license inventory.

More information

Configuration comparison between vCenter Server environments
When you use the NetApp Deployment Engine to install a new VMware vCenter Server environment, many services and integrations are automatically configured. However, when you join an existing vCenter Server environment, some services are not configured to avoid interfering with the existing configuration.

Configuring a new VMware vCenter Server environment
You can deploy a new vCenter Server environment as part of the NetApp HCI installation process by providing some of the network information that vCenter Server should use. Note that if you configure vCenter Server using an IP address, the address cannot be changed after installation.